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Monthly Archives: January 2014

Did the Grammys make you hungry to watch more music performance? Browse our DVD collection on the first floor for musical concerts and documentaries on great songwriters, performers and entertainers throughout history including Mozart, Gilbert & Sullivan, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, The Rolling Stones, and The Dixie Chicks.

Getting ready for the Winter Olympics or just love being outdoors this time of year playing sports? No matter what, the library has you covered. Browse our collection of sports videos in the DVD section under Dewey Decimal System number 796. Find videos on ice skating, snowboarding, back country skiing, winter camping and any other sport you can imagine. Don’t see something you think we should have? Make a suggestion at the Information Desk on the first floor. We’re your library.

Overlooked by the Academy for a Best Documentary Feature nomination, Blackfish is a must-see for animal lovers and people against cruelty of any kind. Blackfish follows the plight and abuse of killer whales at institutions like Sea World in Orlando, FL. You’ll never look at a zoo or aquarium in the same way after viewing this essential documentary.

In honor of the release of Armistead Maupin’s 9th book in the Tales of the City series today The Days of Anna Madrigal, we’ve got the re-release of his ground-breaking PBS adaptation of the first novel on DVD for you to watch. This sweet story about San Francisco in the 1970’s was banned on several TV stations in the South. 20 years later that idea seems more quaint than shocking. Maupin’s group of friends at 28 Barbary Lane join together and create their logical family (his phrase for the family we choose). For Hitchcock fans, there’s definitely more than a few nods in the mini-series. As the cover suggests, this is truly one of the best mini-series ever made.

Nicole Holofcener creates dark, introspective comedies that are never light weight but nearly always make you wake up and notice her characters. Her previous films include Lovely & Amazing, Friends with Money, and Please Give. She casts Catherine Keener in every one of her films. Her latest, Enough Said is worth seeing for many reasons but the one most people are familiar with is that it’s James Gandofini’s final performance. See Gandofini and Julia Louis Dreyfus in Holocener’s newest film, Enough Said.

Based on a true story and winner of both the Grand Jury Prize for dramatic feature and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, director Ryan Coogler’s FRUITVALE STATION follows the true story of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who wakes up on the morning of December 31, 2008 and feels something in the air. Not sure what it is, he takes it as a sign to get a head start on his resolutions: being better son to his mother (Octavia Spencer), whose birthday falls on New Year’s Eve, being a better partner to his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz), who he hasn’t been completely honest with as of late, and being a better father to Tatiana (Ariana Neal), their beautiful four year-old daughter.

Every so often, we’ll be featuring an older film for you to discover or re-discover. Like the social networking trend, we call this feature Throwback Thursday. Today’s gem comes from library staff member Judy Sparzo. Judy recommends 1998’s Pleasantville. From IMDb,

Two 1990s teenagers find themselves in a 1950s sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that complacent world.

Judy mentioned in the wake of Paul Walker’s death “he has a small role in the film. Also, some great actors (Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, and Jeff Daniels) and a time travel premise that always manages to fascinate.”

Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon produced The Central Park Five, a PBS documentary which chronicles the five African-American men wrongly accused of raping a white woman in Central Park during the summer of 1989. There’s nothing sensational about this documentary. Just a quiet truth about race relations in our country. Timely especially given the Zimmerman trial last year.

New Year’s is a great time to catch up on your favorite television shows or find a new favorite to start watching. Many critics believe we are currently living in a new Golden Age of Television. Here are some of the series that make that statement a reality. DVDs make for great binge watching (viewing episode after episode after episode). Stop by today and check out some television from our collection: